EA's BF3 Community Manager took to Reddit to clarify details about the just-confirmedBattlefield 4 beta (thanks VG247). Word is beta testing should commence in Fall 2013 and that there will be ways to get into the beta besides preordering Medal of War Warfighter, though they are not revealing what they are at this time. Here's word:

Hey Guys,Seeing a lot of questions about the BF4 beta announce and thought that'd I make a thread where you can find official, definitive information and help to address some concerns that I'm seeing.

The beta will be in Fall of 2013. We don't have a BF4 release date yet but, of course, it will be after the beta.

We will continue to support BF3. DICE and EA are dedicated to continuing our support for Battlefield 3. Just as we've continued to support and maintain Bad Company 2, we intend to continue providing the best Battlefield 3 experience we can well into the future and past the release of End Game and Battlefield 4.

There are several teams at DICE. Starting work on Battlefield 4 does not mean that we will be abandoning Battlefield 3 or working any less hard to bring you the best expansions we can.

Your feedback absolutely matters. We will continue to use it to improve BF3 and to make Battlefield 4 even better from day one.

Official details regarding BF4 will always be on Battlefield.com/battlefield-4. We expect there to be a lot of rumours and speculation - don't fall for it! ;)

Let me know if you guys have other concerns. Obviously, at this point there are some things that we don't know or that we're keeping under wraps.

Today's a busy day so it may take me some time to get back to you - thanks for your patience!

Ian

EDIT: Additional points of clarification

There will be other ways to get into the beta aside from MoH Warfighter. At this time, however, it is the only way to guarantee entry.We've been seeing a lot of concerns about the pacing of release (i.e. "only" two years after BF3). I think it's worth noting that DICE has released a Battlefield game every two years or sooner AND Mirror's Edge at least every two years. I truly believe that we're in one of the best positions to be creating our next title - Frostbite 2 has matured, we've been gathering fan feedback like crazy, Battlefield 3 continues to expand with features which we can learn from, and we've got more data about how people play than ever.

EDIT: Additional clarification

Things that we recognize that there is a serious desire for, including but not exclusive to: